Norman ralph augustine

Norman ralph augustine: Norman Ralph "Norm" Augustine

Norman R. Augustine was born on July 27, , in Denver, Colorado. An only child, he grew up just about on the prairie and loved spending time in the nearby mountains. After some targeted encouragement from Justin W. He originally planned to major in geological engineering but switched to aeronautical engineering after a drunken student he was trying to save from falling off a train told him aeronautical engineering was the future.

He wrote his graduate thesis on the dynamics and aerodynamics of a vectored slipstream aircraft with a double-slotted flap and built his own models, having learned woodworking from his grandfather. Upon graduation, Augustine took a position at Douglas Aircraft where he started first in a research group and then moved to development projects, working primarily on the Nike Zeus.

He talks about transitioning to management, a missile launch that went wrong, and the early types of computers, including humans who computed. He also mentions what it was like to work at the Pentagon during the Vietnam War and discusses spending a brief time in Vietnam as a civilian. After five years of government work, Augustine was ready to return to industry and accepted a position at LTV Corporation in Dallas, Texas.

He discusses transitioning to life in Texas and working in management and compares working in government and working in industry.